The novel is a romance in the old sense, in that the love story is set in a context of high adventure, as the hero, John Ridd (or ‘Jan’ in the dialect of Exmoor) has to win his love against the odds (to begin with, the Doones, a band of robbers and murderers, followed by more complicated obstacles to be surmounted later). Lorna is no cardboard heroine, either – there’s a lovely development, nothing 'méchant', between the Lorna of John’s vision and the real one, who, as the story progresses, is shown as making her own decisions. John Ridd, the main character, is a lot like Beth March. Good but simple (and he’d say simple-minded), plain, boring, monotone. Just not much to get into or care about with this guy.

Note: I listened to the audio version of this book so this Cleanliness Report may not be as thoroughly detailed as other reports are. Also, some inappropriate content may have been forgotten/missed and not included in the report. Delderfield, Eric (1965?) The Exmoor Country: [a] brief guide & gazetteer; 6th ed. Exmouth: The Raleigh PressThe book seemed a bit naive and “sugar” to me, perhaps because I read an adapted version in English for level B1+. Lorna, being challenged thus, came up and looked at her uncle, with her noble eyes full on his, which beneath his white eyebrows glistened, like dormer windows piled with snow. Hope, of course, is nothing more than desire with a telescope, magnifying distant matters, overlooking near ones; opening one eye on the objects, closing the other to all objections. And if hope be the future tense of desire, the future of fear is religion—at least with too many of us. If you are the type of reader who might find great joy in listening to an old man telling his long and rambling love story of a life (imagine a comfortable fireside setting, cushy chairs, popcorn and cocoa) then you will adore this book. If you're the type of reader who would be impatient, bored or even annoyed in such a setting, you will not enjoy this book so leave it alone rather than revile it.

An overall negative attitude toward women is evident throughout the telling. The further I read the more this irritated me. Why? Because the prose reeks of discriminatory, outdated views, and this comes up every other sentence! The constant repetition of such views becomes hard to swallow!

The love attraction goes overboard too. Soppy is how I would describe it. Love affects a person physically. There is no hint of that here. One might expect this given that the book was written in another time and age, but I’m of the 21st century and I’m rating it. Given that the author is good at drawing the ambiance of places, I’m surprised at his total inability to realistically capture the physical sensations tied to love. The love in the story falls flat. Too late we know the good from bad; the knowledge is no pleasure then; being memory's medicine rather than the wine of hope I hate it when this book ends! Really it couldn't keep going, but I so want it too. I just want to live on that farm in that beautiful country. and religion?: i do not know enough about the religious conflicts of the time, as in historicity or wars...

I'm telling you, when you actually feel more for the characters who are rapists, murderers and thieves, you're in a lot of trouble. But in the years to come he meets Lorna Doone, beloved granddaughter of the head of the Doones, with her lovely smile and big dark eyes. And soon he is deeply, hopelessly, in love… Hem! that makes a difference. A decided disqualification for domestic life among the Doones. But, surely, he might get over those prejudices, madam?' The book has loose ends. Repeatedly a negative attitude toward doctors is expressed. Why this is so is never made clear. Religious views are left hazy.Good, madam! I may look upon that as your sanction and approval: and the College of Heralds shall hear of it. And in return, as Lorna's guardian, I give my full and ready consent to her marriage with your son, madam.' Also, some parts of love story (the talks between lovers) were a tiny bit too... sweet and fairy-tale as to me (I mean, I like it in other books, but in here it didn't feel perfect).

Madam, that is a great sentiment. What a goodly couple they will be! and if we can add him to our strength—' I'm so familiar with history from 1800 on that the world of the 1680s feels incredibly strange to me. It is so hard to wrap my mind around the isolation they experienced and the difficulty in communicating and traveling. Twice in the novel, John goes to London and it's a huge undertaking. He spends time just walking the streets because it's so different from the farm he has grown up on at home in Exmoor. I did love the details of farming at this time, including the harvest festival they celebrate. It reminded me a ton of Thomas Hardy's novels, especially Far From the Madding Crowd. There are passages of beautiful nature writing as well. I think my favorite section was an epic Long Winter (i.e. Laura Ingalls Wilder intensity) when John makes his own snowshoes (thanks to his sister Lizzie) and goes on an epic adventure, which I won't spoil. Lornado is the 1908 official 32-room residence of the United States Ambassador to Canada in Ottawa, Canada, that was built by Warren Y. Soper, an Ottawa industrialist, who named it in homage to one of his favorite novels, Lorna Doone. [19] I can go on and on about this beautiful and mesmerizing piece of literature for I think I'm quite bewitched. I have read a young adult version of this long ago and remember enjoying it. But the complete novel is nothing short of perfection. I was quite taken in with the lives, love, and adventure of the Exmoor and was loathed to leave it and the Plovers Barrow, the cozy little home of John Ridd. It was one of the most melancholic literary partings that I have ever undergone.The success of “Lorna Doone” was at first due to a mistake: when it came out in 1869, one of Queen Victoria’s daughters had just married the Marquis of Lorne, and people bought the book because they thought it was about the Marquis’s family. In fact, there was no connection, but the novel became very popular and remains so today. The history woven into the tale is hard to make sense of. To straighten out the connection between political factions, the Papists, the Protestants and the English kings, I found it necessary to fill out the facts with information on the net. Adequate information should be provided within the text!